Keeper of unlicensed firearms nabbed in Maguindanao del Norte

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Policemen nabbed a religious extremist wanted for keeping unlicensed firearms, seized early on, in an operation on Tuesday, December 24, in Barangay Narra in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte.

Brig. Gen. Romeo Juan Macapaz, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said on Wednesday, December 25, that the 32-year-old Balundo Akad Marcos is now in their custody, awaiting prosecution.

He yielded peacefully when personnel of the Sultan Kudarat Municipal Police Station, led by Lt. Col. Esmael Adil Madin, arrived at his hideout in Barangay Narra and showed him copies of the warrants for his arrest for violation of the Comprehensive Law On Firearms and Ammunition, issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch 27 in Cotabato City.

The criminal case filed against him at the RTC Branch 27 stemmed from the confiscation of firearms that policemen reportedly found in his hideout in an earlier operation. He had eluded arrest then but was prosecuted in absentia and is now wanted in court.

The warrant of arrest for Marcos was signed by Judge Kasan Kusain Abdulrakman, dated Nov. 27, 2024.

Macapaz said it was relatives of the now detained suspect who led Madin and his men to his exact location in Barangay Narra, enabling them to immediately corner and clamp him down.